Newton Abbot's Richard Shepherd admitted he had to pinch himself in amazement after picking up a top prize at the star-studded 2015 UK Coaching Awards.

Shepherd won the Coach Developer of the Year Award on Tuesday evening, rubbing shoulders with the great and the good of British coaching at the iconic Midland Hotel in Manchester.

The 53-year-old cycling coach was singled out for praise by the judging panel for his work delivering format coach education both in the UK and overseas in Africa and the Middle East.

As well as helping to develop coaches in Namibia, Shepherd also works closer to home, frequently providing input into the delivery and development of resources and programmes across a wide range of British Cycling qualifications.

And after his hard work and dedication was rewarded as he beat two other nominees to the award, Shepherd, who also volunteers as a mentor to over 20 new Level Two coaches and more experienced Level Three coaches, was struggling to take it all in.

“It's great to have won, it's really great to be a part of the UK Coaching awards and getting some recognition,” he said.

“It's not what I wanted at the beginning, I want to do the right job but this is a special thing."

“It's amazing because to think of the people out there working hard in the UK and I am here getting an award is beyond belief."

“I think it's important for coaching to have this, we don't set out for this but it's nice to have something at the end that is a bit of a reward.”

“I've worked with all sorts of coaches from coaches in Africa to coaches in the UK and British Cycling and I'm really happy to have had the chance to do that.”


The UK Coaching Awards honour sports coaches and coaching organisations who have demonstrated outstanding success over the previous 12 months.

Previous winners at the UK Coaching Awards include Jessica Ennis-Hill’s mentor Toni Minichiello and Manchester United legend Sir Alex Ferguson, and Rother insisted it was an honour to follow in such illustrious footsteps.

“I started off as a mediocre athlete and my wife was better than me and then I took over as a cycling coach which was more suited to me,” he added.

“I love working with people and developing them as athletes but, more importantly, developing them as people."

“As an athlete it's great but seeing other people develop and achieve things is great and you don't need recognition because seeing them do it is enough.”

The UK Coaching Awards 2015, hosted by sports coach UK is a chance to recognise excellent coaching and coaching organisations that have achieved outstanding success over the past 12 months. For more information visit:www.sportscoachuk.org